Frédérick Lemaître

Lemaître, Frédérick (frādārēkˈ ləmĕtˈrə) [key], 1800–1876, French actor, originally named Antoine Louis Prosper Lemaître. First known in pantomimes and melodramas, he gained fame (1823) for his creation of the part of Robert Macaire in L'Auberge des Adrets. Equally at home in comedy and tragedy, he was especially popular in the plays of Victor Hugo and other romantic dramatists. He wrote the play Robert Macaire (1834). His early years at the Funambules with Deburau are described in the Marcel Carné film classic Children of Paradise (1944).